Northeastern Pennsylvania Photo Tour: PART THREE (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: ski resort, transplants, sales)

[re8tep]

Your photos are magnificent.
I live in Australia and my husbands g/parents settled in Warrior Run PA in 1917
Do you have any pics of that area?
We would love to see what the area is like. No plans on moving there as we live on the beautiful Gold Coast.
I am currently doing the family history and am seeking help/ pics of a few places so that I can tie up a few loose ends to ensure I have the right family. There is a little confusion happening and with a name like Jones it's not surprising. MJ

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by re8tep

Your photos are magnificent.
I live in Australia and my husbands g/parents settled in Warrior Run PA in 1917
Do you have any pics of that area?
We would love to see what the area is like. No plans on moving there as we live on the beautiful Gold Coast.
I am currently doing the family history and am seeking help/ pics of a few places so that I can tie up a few loose ends to ensure I have the right family. There is a little confusion happening and with a name like Jones it's not surprising. MJ

G'day mate! Well, Warrior Run is actually a very small community of around 900 individuals about ten minutes south of Wilkes-Barre. There's not much to see in town besides a bunch of smaller older homes and a church, but I'll head down there tomorrow after I get done snapping my photos of Wilkes-Barre for my next photo tour.

[bungalowbuck]

which zip codes and neighborhoods within the city of scranton would you suggest? what are housing prices like these days in scranton?

[bungalowbuck]

most importantly, thank you for the wonderful pictures of the scranton neighborhoods. do you have any more? do you have any photos of downtown scranton?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by bungalowbuck

which zip codes and neighborhoods within the city of scranton would you suggest? what are housing prices like these days in scranton?

Besides Scranton's "South Side" there really aren't any other "rough" areas of the city that I'd tell anyone to avoid. That's in the 18505 zip code, but I wouldn't necessarily judge the city by zip code as 18505 is also home to East Mountain, which is a desirable, hilly, upper-middle-class portion of the city near Lake Scranton, and Minooka, which is a stable, friendly, blue-collar, middle-class neighborhood down near the Moosic town line. The Hill Section, which is in zip code 18510, is probably the neighborhood I'll be calling home in the future because it's near to the University of Scranton, Nay Aug Park, Community Medical Center, and has plenty of tree-lined streets, and historic homes. Granted, the drive downhill into Center City could be frightening during wintry weather, even with a four-wheel drive, but I plan to live in "The Hill" and walk to my downtown office everyday anyways, making a car an "option." Another thing I like about the Hill Section is that it's not dominated by driveways and garages---most streets have rear alleyways that tuck driveways and garages behind homes, where they belong.

Green Ridge, to the north of downtown and near Marywood University, is another sought-after neighborhood. Essentially, it's a mirror-image of the Hill Section with well-kept older homes and tree-lined streets, only without the "hill." LOL! 18509 is the zip code for Green Ridge.

West Scranton is a rather geographically-massive part of the city, and it even has its own high school and quaint "downtown" area along North Main Avenue that has been bouncing back to life in recent years. Fellow member "ConorsDad" lives in West Scranton, so I'll let him be of better assitance to that part of the city, but it's generally an average middle-class part of the city with a blend of residential and commercial areas. The homes aren't as ornate as those in Green Ridge or "The Hill", but they are certainly much more affordable. There is a new KOZ (tax-free) housing development in West Scranton off of Euclid Avenue called "Tripps Park" that has some newer construction options with tax-free status through 2011 in an effort to lure people back into the city from the suburban cul-de-sacs in Clarks Summit to which they fled when the city was still very "sketchy" back in the
1980s-1990s. Zip codes here are generally 18504 and 18508.

North Scranton is nothing special---it's another stable, safe, middle-class area with a lot of smaller, affordable homes, but it's very convenient to I-81, the North Scranton Expressway, and the Viewmont/Dickson City shopping area.

Housing prices have been climbing steadily. I saw a tidbit on the "Rediscover Scranton" web site that said values on single-family homes have risen by about a third since 2003, and by about a half on multi-family homes since 2003. The most expensive parts of the city would be East Mountain, "The Hill", and Green Ridge, although bargains can still be found in all three areas. The most affordable would probably be South Side (due to the crime issues), North Scranton/Providence, and West Side. Center City will be seeing a growing number of housing units this year as well, but they're on the cost-prohibitive side, as the ones in St. Peter's Square are supposed to start around $335,000 if I'm not mistaken. In general, you can find a great three-bedroom, 1.5 bath home with a typical city 50'x150' lot and perhaps some "bonuses" like an above-ground pool or upgraded kitchen for the low-$100k range. Homes under $100k would mostly need some cosmetic updating and some personal touches to bring them into the 21st Century, but they would still likely be in great condition. There are also still plenty of fixer-uppers to be had in the city as well if you're ambitious.

Here are links to three photo tours I've taken of the city:

A New Photo Tour For Your Enjoyment!
Green Ridge

http://www.city-data.com/forum/penns...l-section.html
Hill Section

http://www.city-data.com/forum/penns...-part-one.html
Center City


Overall, the city is a stable, safe, affordable place to call home. It's only two hours from NYC or Philly, and we haven't had a single murder since mid-2005 thanks to the aggressiveness of the Scranton PD and the vigilance of neighborhood crime watches. It's not "exciting" and "rush-rush", but it's a great fit for me and my future family.

[zinnea36]

We go into Honesdale often. I love living in NE PA. It's really a beautiful place! Where we live in Milford is also nice. You have a friendly little town and we can go a few miles away and hike and explore waterfalls, mountains etc. You get the best of both. Oh and fogot to mention Scranton, it's a great place to visit. We go there often for dinner/shopping etc. I also like going to Old Forge for some pizza! Yum!

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

The homes aren't as ornate as those in Green Ridge or "The Hill", but they are certainly much more affordable. There is a new KOZ (tax-free) housing development in West Scranton off of Euclid Avenue called "Tripps Park" that has some newer construction options with tax-free status through 2011 in an effort to lure people back into the city from the suburban cul-de-sacs in Clarks Summit to which they fled when the city was still very "sketchy" back in the
1980s-1990s. Zip codes here are generally 18504 and 18508.



:

Serious?? Where exactly in Tripps Park? I haven't been through there recently. I am still weighing the options of returning and either buying / renting. Am in shock over how little land/house $$$$ will buy - I am truly "land spoiled". I had family that lived on 16th Street in West Side and an old boyfriend who went to the high school.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by mm_mary73

Serious?? Where exactly in Tripps Park? I haven't been through there recently. I am still weighing the options of returning and either buying / renting. Am in shock over how little land/house $$$$ will buy - I am truly "land spoiled". I had family that lived on 16th Street in West Side and an old boyfriend who went to the high school.

Tripps Park is located along Euclid Avenue, which is just off of North Main Avenue in the city's "West Side" near the North Scranton Expressway overpass. The homes aren't anything special; they're your typical vinyl-sided two-story newer contructions on relatively-small lots with two-car garages for an average of $250,000. The homes are exempt from property taxes through 2011.

[WasPA]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

Tripps Park is located along Euclid Avenue, which is just off of North Main Avenue in the city's "West Side" near the North Scranton Expressway overpass. The homes aren't anything special; they're your typical vinyl-sided two-story newer contructions on relatively-small lots with two-car garages for an average of $250,000. The homes are exempt from property taxes through 2011.

Isn't that the neighborhood in which Hillary Clinton's father's funeral took place...a Methodist church in the neighb? I happened to be going north on
I-81 that day when the President's plane was landing at Avoca (W-B/ Scranton Int'l Airport)..... I followed the cortege to west Scranton and ultimately caught up with them & found the church, but my memory is a bit vague...it seemd like a quite nice area, all in all....even in chilly, drizzly March

[tommylori2001]

I live in NY and moved to milford pa for a while.....I was looking for houses for rent Why is the rent in carbondale kingston wilkes-barre etc... so cheap? Are the neighborhoods bad schools no jobs anyone from there who can tell me about the towns and how is scranton to live? Whats it like?